Maximilian Alexander Chilton (born 21 April 1991) is a British

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

who last competed for

Carlin Motorsport Carlin, formerly Carlin Motorsport, is a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It currently competes in five championships: FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 3 Championship, F4 British Championship, BRDC British Formula 3 and E ...

in the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

, before announcing his retirement from IndyCar in February 2022. Prior to IndyCar, he competed in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

, driving for

Marussia F1 The Marussia F1 Team (subsequently Manor Marussia F1 Team) was a Formula One racing team and constructor which was based in Banbury, Oxfordshire and then later Dinnington, South Yorkshire in the United Kingdom and competed with a Russian lice ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, he raced in the GP2 series for

Marussia Marussia Motors (russian: Маруся ) was a Russian sports car company founded in 2007. It was the first Russian company to produce a supercar. It designed, and manufactured prototypes of both the B1 and the B2 sport cars. Marussia was led by for ...

-backed

. He is the current holder of the

Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hillclimbing, hill climb and other events, held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, in l ...

hill climb record. His brother Tom is also a racing driver, currently competing in the

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in ...

Early life

Chilton was born in Redhill and grew up in

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

. His father, Grahame Chilton, is a businessman who co-owned the insurance company

Benfield Group Benfield Group was a leading independent reinsurance and risk intermediary. Customers included most of the world's major insurance and reinsurance companies as well as government entities and global corporations. A former constituent of the FTSE 2 ...

until 2008, when it was taken over by

Aon plc Aon PLC () is a British-American Multinational corporation, multinational financial services firm that sells a range of risk-mitigation products, including Commercial Risk, Investment, Wealth and Reinsurance solutions, as well as boutique strat ...

for £738m. Chilton became vice-chairman of Aon after the deal and also collected around £77m for his stake. Max Chilton was educated at Ardingly College from 2000 to 2008. His brother,

Tom Chilton Thomas James Chilton (born 15 March 1985) is a British racing driver. He has spent most of his career competing in touring car racing; he was a former factory Vauxhall and Honda driver in the British Touring Car Championship, and currently driv ...

, is also a racing driver.

Career

Karting

Chilton started his racing career at the age of 10 in karts where he spent 2 years learning the ropes in cadet karting before stepping up to junior TKM. He started to make a name for himself with J.I.C.A, where he made regular appearances on the podium, before turning his attention to car racing at the age of 14. Throughout this period Chilton was racing in the

Super 1 National Kart Championships The Super One National Kart Championships, also known as S1 or Super One, is a karting championship based in the United Kingdom. It has been in operation since 1983 and is regarded as the premier karting championship in the UK, producing profession ...

T Cars

He dovetailed his 2005 karting season with a season in the

T Cars T Cars was a saloon car-based motor racing series based in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western co ...

championship, for drivers between fourteen and seventeen years of age. He finished eighth in his first season, before going on to finish third in the Autumn Trophy. He continued in T Cars in 2006, where he finished as runner-up to

Luciano Bacheta Akshay Luciano Bacheta (born 26 April 1990 in Romford, England) is a British professional racecar driver, born to Indian parents with Italian ancestry. Career Bacheta started karting at the age of fourteen in 2004 and stepped up to cars in 200 ...

by three points. He won seven races to Bacheta's six.

Formula Three

Chilton made his debut at the second round of the

2007 British Formula 3 season The 2007 British Formula 3 International Series was the 57th British Formula 3 International Series season. It commenced on 9 April 2007 and ended on 30 September after twenty two races, with Estonian driver Marko Asmer Marko Asmer (born 30 J ...

for Arena International, despite being below the required age of 16 to take part in the season opener having sought special dispensation on the eve of his 16th birthday. His best result was eleventh, in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

and at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

. He made one appearance in the Star Mazda Championship, at

Laguna Seca Laguna Seca may refer to: * Laguna Seca Formation, a geologic formation in California * Laguna Seca (Mexico), see Convention of London * Laguna Seca (Santa Clara County), a seasonal lake in California * Laguna Seca, Texas, United States * Rancho ...

– because he was a guest driver, Chilton was ineligible for points. He drove in the 2007 1000km of Silverstone for Arena with his brother Tom, and they finished sixth overall, eight laps down on the winning

Peugeot 908 HDi FAP The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP is a sports prototype racing car built by the French automobile manufacturer Peugeot to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, starting in 2007 and eventually winning in 2009. This effort, in development sin ...

Nicolas Minassian Nicolas Minassian (born 28 February 1973) is a French professional racing driver of Armenian descent. After finishing 2nd place in the 1993 Formula Renault Eurocup, Marseille-born Minassian graduated to the French Formula Three Championship whe ...

and

Marc Gené Marc Gené i Guerrero (born 29 March 1974) is a Spanish professional racing driver. He is best known as a tester for Williams and Ferrari in Formula One, Minardi Formula One driver and factory driver for Peugeot's Le Mans team, with which ...

. For 2008 Chilton moved to David Hayle's

Hitech Racing Hitech Grand Prix (formerly known as Hitech Racing) is a British motor racing team. It was founded in 2002 by Dennis Rushen and David Hayle. The team started racing in the British Formula 3 Championship in 2003. The team also competed in the So ...

, and improved to tenth place in the championship. He recorded pole positions at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

and Rockingham, and scored two podiums – second in the opening race at

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

and third at Rockingham. He moved to

for the 2009 season, taking three pole positions in the first four races. He won twice during the season, the first at the

Autódromo Internacional do Algarve The Algarve International Circuit ( pt, Autódromo Internacional do Algarve), commonly referred to as Portimão Circuit, is a race circuit located in Portimão, Algarve region, Portugal. The development includes a karting track, off-road tra ...

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,614, in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão (). In 1924, it was ...

, and the second in his final Formula Three race at

GP2 Series

Chilton graduated to the

GP2 Asia Series The GP2 Asia Series was a form of open wheel motor racing as a result of a spin-off from the GP2 series. The series was officially announced during the weekend of the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix. GP2 series organiser Bruno Michel commented that "It ...

for the 2009–10 season, driving for

Barwa Addax Addax, or Barwa Addax was a Spanish motorsport team owned by the bank Addax Capital, which competed in the GP2, GP3 and GP2 Asia Series. Team history GP2 Series Barwa Addax was formed as a result of Alejandro Agag purchase of the Campos Rac ...

. From there Chilton moved to

Ocean Racing Technology Ocean Racing Technology (ORT) was a racing team that took part in both the GP2 Main Series and the GP2 Asia Series Championships. The team, owned by Tiago Monteiro and José Guedes, was formed at the end of the 2008 season after being purchased f ...

for the 2010 GP2 Series season championship with the highest place finish of 5th. In 2011 Chilton joined his father's Carlin team for the outfit's first foray into GP2, having previously driven for them in Formula Three. Partnered variously by reigning

Formula Renault 3.5 Series The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...

champion

Mikhail Aleshin Mikhail Petrovich Aleshin ( rus, Михаи́л Петро́вич Алёшин, p=mʲɪxɐˈil pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ɐˈlʲɵʂɨn, born 22 May 1987 in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian professional racing driver and the 2010 champion of the Fo ...

and

Álvaro Parente Álvaro Parente (born 4 October 1984) is a Portuguese professional racing driver. Career Early career After winning the Karting European Junior Championship in 1998, Porto-born Parente made his debut in auto racing in 2001 at the age of 16, ...

, he finished 22nd in the

Asia series The Asia Series was an international club baseball competition, contested by the champions of all four of the professional leagues that are associated with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) — Australian Baseball League (ABL), ...

and 20th in the main series. He remained with the team, now with backing from the

team, for the 2012 season alongside

Rio Haryanto Rio Haryanto (born 22 January 1993) is an Indonesian racing driver and a former Formula One driver for Manor during 2016 season. He last competed in the 2019-20 Asian Le Mans Series and in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia for T2 Motorsp ...

. He secured his first series podium finish in the feature race of the first round of the championship in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, and later his first pole position and race victory in the Hungarian feature race. This improvement in form, together with consistent points-scoring finishes throughout the season, resulted in Chilton rising to fourth place in the drivers' championship.

Formula One

Force India (2011)

In November 2011 Chilton drove for the

Force India Force India Formula One Team Limited, commonly known as Force India and later Sahara Force India, was a Formula One racing team and constructor based in Silverstone, United Kingdom, with an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 20 ...

team in the Young Driver test at Abu Dhabi's

Yas Marina Circuit The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is the venue for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, and is situated on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Yas Marina was ...

. This was his second time driving

machinery following a straight-line aerodynamic test for the team earlier in the year.

Marussia (2012–14)

Chilton was appointed

's testing and reserve driver for the second half of the 2012 season, starting from the

Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the ...

. Chilton competed in the first practice session at the

2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally the 2012 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 4 November 2012 at the Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It was the eighteenth rou ...

in November for Marussia F1. In December 2012,

Nikolai Fomenko Nikolay Vladimirovich Fomenko (russian: Николай Владимирович Фоменко, born 30 April 1962) is a Russian musician, comic actor, professional motor racer, former president of Marussia Motors and former engineering direc ...

, the engineering director of Marussia F1, announced that Chilton would race for the team full-time in

. The team confirmed the next day that Chilton would race. Chilton qualified 20th on his debut at the Australian GP. He achieved his best finish of the season at the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix, when he finished in 14th place following several retirements. He achieved his best qualifying result of 16th position at the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix in a mixed-weather session where he was one of three drivers to go out on slick tyres at the end when the track's condition was improving. Chilton is the only driver to have finished every race of his rookie season. Max Chilton 2014 Singapore FP2

On 11 January it was announced that

would be retaining Chilton for the season. Chilton achieved his best finish to date at the , finishing 13th. He finished 13th again at the . Chilton had finished every Formula One race he had contested until the

2014 Canadian Grand Prix The 2014 Canadian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2014) was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, on 8 June. It was the seventh race of the 2014 Formula One World Champion ...

, which meant that he had finished 25 consecutive races, 19 of them in his rookie season. This was a record for most classified finishes in a rookie season.

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...

holds the record for most consecutive classified finishes at 48. Chilton's Canadian Grand Prix retirement came when he collided with his teammate

Jules Bianchi Jules Lucien André Bianchi (; 3 August 1989 – 17 July 2015) was a French motor racing driver who drove for the Marussia F1 Team in the FIA Formula One World Championship. Bianchi had previously raced in Formula Renault 3.5, GP2 and Form ...

on the first lap, sending the Frenchman into the wall at Turn 4. Chilton received a three-place grid penalty at the following race. His season ended after Marussia went into administration and then closed down, resulting in Chilton missing the last three races of the season and having no seat for 2015.

IndyCar

Indy Lights

With no F1 seat for 2015, Chilton returned to Carlin for testing in order to assist them with their

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program ...

efforts, planning to move on to a full

drive in 2016. Chilton's maiden Indy Lights pole position and race win, taking place on the same weekend as Jules Bianchi's death, was dedicated to his former Formula One teammate and karting rival.

IndyCar Series

Chip Ganassi (2016–2017)

On 1 February 2016, Chilton joined

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...

to compete in the

. In the 2017 Indianapolis 500, Chilton dominated the latter part of the race and led 47 of the last 72 laps, but ultimately finished fourth. Chilton led the most laps total with 50.

Carlin (2018–2021)

On 13 December 2017 it was announced that Chilton would race for

for the 2018 IndyCar Series. On 6 June 2019, it was announced that Chilton would no longer run races on oval tracks, with the exception of the

Indy 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianap ...

. Conor Daly would run the remainder of the Oval races for the 2019 season for Carlin Motorsport. In February 2022, Chilton announced his retirement from

IndyCar racing ''IndyCar Racing'' is a racing video game by Papyrus Design Group released in 1993. Papyrus, consisting of David Kaemmer and Omar Khudari, previously developed '' Indianapolis 500: The Simulation'', released in 1989. The game was intended as a ...

, in order to concentrate on other ventures, including the

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

Endurance Race.

World Endurance Championship

Nissan (2015)

Chilton joined Nissan Motorsports to compete in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

in 2015. Chilton ran the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

for the team, retiring after 234 laps due to a suspension failure.

GT Racing

Super GT (2022)

Chilton was assigned by

Ryo Michigami is a Japanese racing driver. Currently he is driving a Honda NSX GT3 Evo for Modulo Drago Corse in Super GT. He won the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship in 2000. He competed in the GT500 category of the Super GT series in 1995 and t ...

to be the test driver of the BUSOU Drago Corse

Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 The Nissan GT-R (Japanese: 日産・GT-R, ''Nissan GT-R''), is a high-performance sports car and grand tourer produced by Nissan, unveiled in 2007. It is the successor to the Skyline GT-R, a high performance variant of the Nissan Skyline. Alt ...

which had been driven by

Masataka Yanagida Masataka Yanagida (born 4 June 1979, in Tokyo) is a Japanese racing driver. Career The son of successful racing driver Haruhito Yanagida, a runner-up in the Japanese Touring Car Championship, Masataka began his career in karting in 1993. In 199 ...

and

Yuji Ide (born 21 January 1975) is a Japanese racing driver. He is the 2005 Formula Nippon runner-up and the 2010 Suzuka 1000km winner. He competed in Formula One with the Super Aguri team in 2006, but was demoted to third driver after four races and ...

, the team placed Chilton has their third driver in Endurance races during the season.

Racing record

Career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete GP2 Series results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Final results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicates fastest lap)

American open-wheel racing results

Indy Lights

IndyCar Series

(

)

Indianapolis 500

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete 300km of Suzuka results

Complete Super GT Series results

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, Max 1991 births Living people People from Reigate People educated at Ardingly College English racing drivers English Formula One drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers GP2 Asia Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers GP2 Series drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers Marussia Formula One drivers Indy Lights drivers IndyCar Series drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Arena Motorsport drivers Hitech Grand Prix drivers Carlin racing drivers Comtec Racing drivers Ocean Racing Technology drivers Manor Motorsport drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Super GT drivers Nismo drivers